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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1996 Sep 3;93(18):9309–9314. doi: 10.1073/pnas.93.18.9309

Long-range repression in the Drosophila embryo.

H N Cai 1, D N Arnosti 1, M Levine 1
PMCID: PMC38424  PMID: 8790326

Abstract

Transcriptional repressors can be characterized by their range of action on promoters and enhancers. Short-range repressors interact over distances of 50-150 bp to inhibit, or quench, either upstream activators or the basal transcription complex. In contrast, long-range repressors act over several kilobases to silence basal promoters. We describe recent progress in characterizing the functional properties of one such long-range element in the Drosophila embryo and discuss the contrasting types of gene regulation that are made possible by short- and long-range repressors.

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Selected References

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